I have one keg that just recently stop draining during cleaning. Once you start cleaning it everything works fine, but after it gets about 3-4 gallons of cleaner in it it will stop draining. I took the stem apart and everything appears to be just fine. The cleaning coupler will bottom out on the two stem tabs really easily, so my theory is that when the coupler is engaged it do not depress the gas spring enough to allow a normal flow of cleaner out of the keg. Has anyone had this problem before?

brewmaster 2011

05-22-2013, 09:45 AM

I have had something similar when I have kegs on draft. The coupler is isn't fully engaged and co2 is able to get in the draft line and cause foam problems. I just replace the coupler with on the fully engages the sankey.

schmogger

05-22-2013, 10:55 AM

The tabs on the valve on the keg might be bent up just a bit. Micromatic has a tool that will bend the tabs back down. It is a worthy tool to have in your draft tool box.

I tried your advice about bending the ears down. They were bent up a little. The coupler engages much better now, but the problem still persists. It is really bizzar. It will work properly for about 20 seconds and then all of the sudden it acts like it gets plugged up and the discharge stops.

peabodyheights

02-10-2014, 01:13 PM

We're having trouble with this, but specifically with one set of kegs we have. They are Chinese made, 50L kegs w/ screw in stems and are adding a lot of time to the cleaning/filling process. I got the micromatic tool, but it didn't make any difference. I've also tried switching out the gasket on the keg coupler itself, the perlick gasket seems to be a little larger than the micro-matic or abeco. Have you made any progress on this since you initially had the issue?

dick murton

02-10-2014, 01:31 PM

I assume you are blowing out with compressed gas. During a normal hot keg clean, once the pressure has dissipated, there is nothing to force the liquid out. Normally short delivery bursts (45 to 60 seconds) followed by some sort of pressure to blow out the the detergent / rinse water - use compressed gas or steam to do this. And then repeat until you have the required contact time with fresh detergent / water rinse.

callmetim

02-11-2014, 06:17 AM

try changing the coupler. I was having similar problems but it mainly was with the PBST kegs. the coupler handle had developed some slop and wasn't depressing all the way. I suspect I will have to get new vavles for the PBST kegs at some point but for now the coupler took care of th eprobelm

TGTimm

02-11-2014, 12:33 PM

Be sure you have the right gasket on the coupler--the big gasket on the bottom. We have at least two different sizes of these, one for the cleaning couplers on the keg washer, another, thinner one for the pub couplers. Putting one of the thin gaskets where a thick one goes results in about exactly what you described.

Ted Briggs

02-14-2014, 07:17 AM

"one for the cleaning couplers on the keg washer, another, thinner one for the pub couplers"
Interesting- Where do you get these? part number?

TGTimm

02-16-2014, 01:58 PM

Ok, I had that backwards. The thinner gasket goes on the keg cleaning couplers, which are Micromatics (with Ergo handles). The pub couplers are Banners. The keg cleaning couplers have no pressure relief valve, and larger bores for better flow.

Put a cleaning coupler gasket on a pub coupler and watch the beer fly!